happy friday. coming up on "early today," doping -- yes. blood transfusions. yes. lance armstrong told oprah it was one big lie that he repeated a lot of times but did his tell all hurt or hurt him. notre dame's manti te'o talked about his girlfriend twice. she wasn't dead she never really existed. the latest in the hostage situations. and plans for the president's inauguration are well under way. and back to the future another time. the retrofitted hovercraft. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, january 18th,

2013. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. one big lie. that's what lance armstrong said for the first time ever after more than a decade of denials. the seven-time tour de france winner admitted to cheating by taking banned substancing during his cycling career. some a sitdown with oprah winfrey he talked about the allegations that have been plaguing him for here's. this after the justice department decided to intervene in a whistle-blower lawsuit brought on by a former teammate. nbc's kurt gregory has more. >> a one more answer. >> did you ever take banned substances to enhance your performances? >> yes. >> reporter: after years of denials, seven-time winner lance armstrong admitted to oprah winfrey he did use performance-enhancing drugs. >> in all seven of your tour de france victories did you ever

take banned substances or blood dope? >> yes. >> reporter: it's an admission armstrong spent more than a decade denying. >> i've used this situation as one big lie that i repeated a lot of times. >> reporter: those who have followed armstrong say tonight's admission is self-serving. >> i believe he is completely insincere except for this, he is starting to repair his brand. >> reporter: a brand that was lost after armstrong was stripped of his titles. on thursday, the international olympic committee stripped armstrong of the medal he won during the olympics. >> i'll spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologize to people. >> reporter: accolades gone for a sports icon now coming clean. kurt gregory, nbc news. and a quick programming note, this morning on "today" show, exclusive interview with

tyler hamilton one of the armstrong's teammates. the speculation continues to swirl around notre dame as linebacker maptty te'o and the mystery over a girlfriend he publicly mourned and now says never existed. in the wake of that elaboration, if the wake of the hoax, news authorities are sifting through more questions. an associated press review finds the heisman trophy candidate perpetuated the relationship. te'o said he learned of the hoax on december 6th which leaves us to learn when will we hear from te'o himself. now, the latest on the ongoing hostage crisis in algeria. new details are emerging about nationals held captive at a bp-related gas plant. some escaped but others are still being held.

nbc's michelle kosinski is there, what's the latest? >> reporter: one day now after they took over the bp facility in algeria, taking dozens of international workers hostage, including americans, it is still just as difficult to get confirmed information out of there. there have been conflicting reports. different numbers coming out. algerian officials being quoted on state tv there have said that at least six of the hostages were killed when the algerian army apparently raided the facility in attempts to free the hostages. they did say that many other hostages were able to escape and some militants were also killed. the associated press quoting an official on the question of anonymity, said some americans did escape, although not everyone is accounted for even at this hour. >> thanks so much for that report. for the first time in over two decades, the u.s. has

recognized the government of somalia. secretary of state hillary clinton calls the official recognition a milestone in the fight against islamic extremists. the u.s. has not recognized somalia since 1991 when warlords overthrew the government and a civil war followed. first lady michelle obama was in fine form celebrating her 49th birthday. the white house said the president and mrs. obama dined with friends last night at an italian restaurant at washington's upscale georgetown neighborhood. earlier in the day, the first lady debuted her hairdo featuring new bangs in a twitter pic she featured online. we'll see if the new do is there for inauguration day. in fact, details about the president's big party are well under way. nbc's tracie potts has details. hi. >> reporter: hi, good morning. it takes a lot to get this

inauguration done in washington even though we're expecting half as many people. the kraut somewhere between 6 and 800,000. a lot of money and d.c. officials coming into the city, but hotels and restaurants not as full as we saw before. the national mall being transformed into america's stage. that staging is up. they're securing that zone. the parade route. the viewing stand at the white house is up as well. the secret service said they've got 100 workstations, nearly 100, throughout the city, with 42 different agencies involved in security. and they are promising better crowd management this time around. meantime around, the first family, you saw the new bangs with the first lady. we will likely see them over the weekend and into monday as the president takes his second oath, he take the first official one privately at the white house on sunday. mara. >> all right. tracie potts, thanks so much. and now for a look at your friday weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. you might look good with bangs. >> i never had bangs.

never even thought about it. take me a couple months to grow it out. yesterday, we saw the snow in mississippi, those kids were happy, they got the snow, a couple inches here and there. i think a lot of kids end up disappointed in areas of virginia and north carolina. probably not enough for any sledding this morning. here are the mississippi pictures. and did cause a lot of problems out there. we had unfortunately one or two fatalities because of some car accidents. let me show you the radar and what happened as we went throughout the day. the blue and the white is where the snow was. a brief period of snow from raleigh to richmond. d.c. got robbed. this morning, we did have a little bit of snow, especially right around cape cod. just clipping areas. if you're out there, drive carefully. maybe a cub inches before the end of the day. now, the big next story is what's going to happen with the cold air that's going to arrive. the coldest of the stone. the white shows the arctic blast down through the northern plains through saturday. sunday it heads through the

great lakes. by monday, tuesday, wednesday, it settles into the top of new england. it doesn't dive that far into the deep south but it is going to be very sold. look at chicago, with a high temperature expected on monday of 9 degrees. ouch. that's a look at your national forecast. now, here's a look at the weather outside your window. >> so, today's probably, in comparison to the cold plunge that we're going to see for next week, a very mild day for january across much of the country. it's cool, but it's not downright cold as we'll definitely see go throughout the weekend. areas in minneapolis, probably not above zero. lance armstrong helps juice oprah's network. the latest nbc poll on guns in america. and we'll show you a 12-pound gold nugget found on a beach. plus, take a look at this frightening video. a purse thief grabbed a woman on a subway platform and hurled her

on it the tracks. what happened next after that? we'll have it coming up.

welcome back, here's some other stories making news this morning. the latest nbc/"wall street journal" poll found that 56% of americans want strict are gun laws. that's less than the 60% to 70% who supported stricter gun laws during the '90s when congress passed the assault weapons ban. the new poll found that 7% think the gun laws are too strict and 35% want no changes. new jersey governor chris christie said the new nra ad using president obama's girls is reprehensible. >> 65% of likely to post their political affiliation on public media. liberals are also more likely to block people because of their political views. well, the mother offering popular advice known as dear

abby has died. pauline phillips who wrote under the name of abigail van buren during the dear abby column was 94. check this out, researchers can snap photographs of snowflakes in 3d. it captures the amazing photos while the snowflakes are in free fall. very cool. a new studies show a dramatic death in cancer. experts credit people smoking less and early detection especially for breast and colin cancer. but the numbers aren't all good. the death rate from melanoma often caused by some exposure is rising. and the latest on obesity which affects many cancers including liver and breast. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash.

and china's growth products sped up by a faster than expected 7.9% in the fourth quarter. stocks came to live thursday thanks to a jump in housing starts and the lowest claimed numbers since january 208. after the bell, chip make intel ticked lower. more corporate reports, heavy hitters general electric and morgan stanley. gold prices settled and $1690. meaning this gold nugget reportedly discovered with a medal detecter in australia is worth just under $300,000. not a bad find. toyota has settled the first in a strange of wrongful deaths over unintended acceleration. the family was killed when a foyt slammed into the wall will collect an undisclosed sum from the automaker.

oprah winfrey's interview with lance armstrong has brought a pretty penny. and bolstered the ratings by 32% last year. well, so much for dishes and towels. chrysler wants new couples to ask their friends and families to pitch in for a new car on its new dodge dart registry site. meanwhile, if you're planning a vacation or honeymoon, experts say january is the best month to find deals. aaa named the resort the best in the world. the posh restreet in the u.s., followed by a sister resort in maui. and bar. desso and the ranch inrounded it out. a horrible crime in philly. and when u.s. senators go

hunting for burmese pine thytho. you're watching "early today."

and now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. in philadelphia, disturbing surveillance video captured a vicious attack on the subway platform earlier this week. it showed a man beating a woman and tossing her on to train tracks before stealing her jacket and cell phone.

fortunately, the 23-year-old victim survived with some cuts and bruises. police caught the suspect because he was wearing the stole. jacket. he faces assault and robbery charges. in the everglades florida governor bill nelson got down and dirt with the python hunt. he was trying to draw attention to the known known snakes which have been known to either deer and alligators. the senator's expedition turned up 92 pythons. and in the nation's capital people may have been doing a double take as wax statues of president obama and first lady michelle came through on a double decker bus. mr. obama's statue has more gray hair while the first lady's hair and makeup and clothing are more in line with 2013. in sports, college basketball. third-ranked duke with georgia tech and mason itembly had 16 points for the blue devils. in a 67-55 victory.

and minnesota, glenn robinson iii made a steal an a spectacular 360-degree jam. very nice. michigan over minnesota 84-75. in the nba, milwaukee surged in the second half against phoenix. and the bucks beat the suns, 98-94, for the first win in phoenix in 26 years. the nfl playoffs on sunday, atlanta hosts san francisco in the nfc championship game and the ravens are in new england for the afc title game. the winners will meet for the super bo in new orleans on february 3rd. listen to this, organized crime infringing on the world's most popular sport? there are new reports out that 50 soccer leagues are being targeted by criminal gangs trying to fix matches. fifa, the governing body said in 2012 it was involved in dozens of investigations which reportedly accounts for billions in illegal betting. just ahead, robert redford.

and django unchained's big payday and the hovercraft. you' watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday morning. let me take you through your weekend forecast. and this is going to be the last little mild day before the agentic blast arrives so enjoy it today in minneapolis, 42. denver, enjoy that, chicago, enjoy your 40s. no problems with the exception of cape cod with some snow.

as we go through the weekend, things are going to change. the arctic front coming through minnesota as we go throughout saturday with the arctic blast. you'll really feel the effects saturday night into sunday. chicago, really starting to see the brunt of the cold air with the great lakes. the low temperature into fargo sunday night into monday morning, it's supposed to be minus 22. >> oh, gosh. >> i don't even know what that feels like. well, around said he would be back. the last stand marks arnold schwarzenegger's first leading role since 2003. that may not be enough for the box office weekend with jestica chastain's film mama expected to take five. mark wahlberg broken's city is expected last. quentin tarantino's django unchained has become the best capitol hill. founder robert redford

reiterated the festival's independent spirit. >> as long as we go forward and we adapt to change, we keep in touch with our original purpose which is simply to support and develop new voices to be seen and heard. and do whatever we can to promote them. >> sometimes, you never know what you'll see in the san francisco bay. including a delorean-themed hovercraft, straight out of "back to the future." wherever they're going, they definitely won't need roads. and finally, justin bieber's es selena gomez revealed who she turns to for advice. taylor swift. yes, that taylor swift. i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "early today," this, your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. good morning. a quiet start. the storm missed us to the south. 35 at the airport. sea breeze is keeping up -- the breeze is kicking up. a mixture of sun and clouds. high temperature in the upper 30's. >> 35 degrees at the airport. all things purple.

>> the ravens must avoid any new in the speed bump. >> it is purple friday in foxborough. we have found some disrespecting when it comes to the ravens chances on sunday. >> the purple caravan is just getting started in baltimore. >> we will take a look at your morning commute. ♪

using robotics and mobile technology, verizon innovators have made it possible for teachers to teach, and for a kid... nathan. tadpole. ... to feel like a kid again. because the world's biggest challenges deserve even bigger solutions. powerful answers. verizon. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> happy purple friday. let's get a check of the